Improvement in oyster-dredges



UNITED STATES PATENT Grrr-CE.

THOMAS P. SINK, OF FAIRTON, NEW JERSEY.

.IM-PRVENI ENT IN QYSTER-DREDGS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 25,680,1lated October 4, 1859.

to aflix to the gunwale of the vessel a piecey such as is represented by X in the annexed drawing, with an upright attachment, such as Y, at one end thereof, for the purpose of sustaining or holdin gthe rope to which the dredge is attached while the -boat is in motion, and

y also while the dredge is being hauled upon the deck of the boat. Sometimes an arrangement of the wheel and axle or of the windlass is employed for the purpose of hauling in the I dredge.

I'n my new device I construct an upright block or chuck, A, which ir. set vertically by means of a pin projecting from its under side into a corresponding aperture in a rest or bedplate, but leaving space sufficient to allow the block or chuck to rotate horizontally either wholly or partly around its axis. In this block oi chuck a pulley, B, is constructed7 turning upon a pin passing horizontally through its center.

U and C are vertical friction-rollers affixed to the edges of that face of the chuck or block which is nearest to the stern of the boat.

- Alongside of the other face of thel block or thence extending toward the forward part of the boat, I place a horizontal roller, E, sup* ported' by proper bearin gs constructed in two uprights, I) and D. rlhe diameter of this roller should vbe about three inches, and its length from three tortive feet, according to the size of the boat, its height and that of the upri ghts corresponding with the elevation ofthe chuck or block. The useful effect of the roller will be increased by luting it, which will-check the tendency of the dredge to slide back into the water. i

At one extrelnity of the roller, as at F, I place a ratchet-wheel, so as to prevent the rolle-r from turning in any other direction except inward toward the deck.

The face ofthe upright D which adjoins the chuck or block should be concave, so as to correspond with the convex side of the'chuck or block, and the concave and convex surfaces should be set as near together as Will admit of the easy play of the one into the other.

In the use of this devicethe rope to which the dredge is attached is placed over the pulley, and the block or chuck, by its capacity to rotate, readily adapts itself/to any change in the direction which the ropemay take in consequence of a change in the course of the boat as the dredge is dragged along after it, -In drawing in the dredge with its contents the rope passes across one'or both of the frictionyrollers and over the pulley, and7 the pin of the pulley gradually assumes a direction coinciding with that of the roller, in which position it will generally be found when the upper extremity of the dredge has been drawn up to or upon the pulley or the block. By a slight forward motion of the rope the upper extremity of the dredgeis then caused to slide onward upon the roller, which, by means of the ratchet-Wheeh'can turn only in a direction inward toward the deck, and the dredge is finali y raised up on the roller and its contents discharged. i

The weight of a full dredge is generally about four hundred pounds, and it is eviden-t that an arrangement of friction-wheels, a rotatin g pulley-block, such a roller such as above described will greatly relieve thelabor of those who are required to handle this-weight. Indeed, I have found that by means of 'my deviceone man may perform the same work which, without it, would have required the efforts of three men.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claimtherein as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The arrangement and combination of the chuck or block A and its pulley B with the roller E, the respective parts being formed and operating substantially in the manner and for the purposes above set forth.

T, P. SINK.

Witnesses HERMAN HAMBURGER, A. D. CALDWELL. 

